Postgame: Catching up with Yesterday's Stars: Jim Tureskis

It’s a long way, literally and figuratively, from Bergen Park on Clear Lake Avenue to Royal Poinciana Golf Club in Naples, Fla.

Dave Kane

It’s a long way, literally and figuratively, from Bergen Park on Clear Lake Avenue to Royal Poinciana Golf Club in Naples, Fla.

Bergen was the starting point for Jim Tureskis’ life in golf as he grew up playing there. Then he began building toward a golf career by working for then-head pro Chuck Rowland — first at The Rail and later at Illini Country Club.

Tureskis later hit the road to work at courses from Albany, N.Y., to Philadelphia to Marco Island, Fla. It remains to be seen if Royal Poinciana is the final destination for the 47-year-old Griffin High School graduate.

But if Naples is indeed the last stop in Tureskis’ career as a golf professional, no one could blame him for not looking elsewhere.

“I’m one of the fortunate ones,” said Tureskis, who lives in Naples with his wife, Lauren, and their children, 7-year-old Ashley and 6-year-old James.

“I’ve got a nice thing down here.”

Tureskis is in his fifth year as head pro at Royal Poinciana, a 36-hole private club considered one of the most exclusive in south Florida. There are about 600 members and about 480 others on a waiting list.

“It takes about 8½ years to get in,” Tureskis said. “It’s one of the older courses around here, about 30 years old. It’s almost in the center of town, and it’s always in immaculate shape. It’s an exclusive club; everyone wants to be a part of that.

“It’s like going to a restaurant and having to wait for two hours to get in. You figure it must be worth waiting for.”

Tureskis said the Royal Poinciana membership includes many high rollers from the business world, some of them retirees who spend only their winters in Florida and then head back north — many to the Midwest — for the spring and summer.
And for a golf pro with two young children, that’s a good thing.

A course pro’s life consists of long work days. But at a course in south Florida, the busy season is in the winter. Summertime means down time, allowing Jim and Lauren to take the kids on vacations and enjoy a normal family summer.

“The kids are out of school in the summer, and I can spend more time with them,” Jim said. “Up north, when the kids are out of school, that’s the height of the golf season and I’d be away from home 12 hours a day.

“Plus, in the winter, it gets dark down here about 5:30 in the evening. We’re locking up the shop at 5 o’clock. You have much more of a family life that way, too.”

Jim and Lauren are partners in more than just parenting. Lauren also works at Royal Poinciana as the golf shop manager in charge of merchandise. She filled a similar role when Jim was the head pro at Woolfords Roost Country Club in Albany, N.Y., from 1991 to 2003.

“We got married before I got the job in Albany,” said Jim, whose wife is originally from Montclair, N.J. They met when Jim was working at Essex Fells (N.J.) Country Club.
“Lauren got her degree from Syracuse in commercial art and design, but I asked her if she’d like to help out (at Woolfords Roost) a few hours a week. If she wanted to see me very much, that would be the best place.

“What turned out to be a part-time job turned out being her career. When we were in Albany, our golf shop was voted one of the top 100 in the country for 10 years in a row.”
Jim credits Rowland for helping him get his start in the golf business. But the 1978 Drysdale Tournament champion and former Griffin and Lincoln Land Community College golfer said he’s gained knowledge from many others with whom he’s worked or crossed paths.

His earlier Florida stops allowed him to get to know golf legends such as Gene Sarazen and Ken Venturi. But Jim thinks his attention to detail stemmed from working for a lesser-known head pro, Bill Kittleman, at Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia, where four U.S. Opens have been held.

Jim worked there for only a year and a half before going to Woolfords Roost, but he said the experience was valuable.

“That was my big break,” Jim said. “Merion’s one of the top five clubs in the country. They’re hosting another (U.S.) Open in 2013. It’s a unique club because it doesn’t have a lot of land.

“But it’s not the courses you’re at. It’s the people you meet. At the club down here in Florida, we have a bunch of CEOs. When I was at Merion, Michael Jordan would come to play there when the Bulls were playing the 76ers.

“You’re lucky enough to meet people who can open up doors for you. Somebody will come into the shop down here and say, ‘I need someone to run a division of my company.’ It happens. But we’re comfortable. We have no plans to leave.”

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